The Times WEDNESDAY. JUNE 17, rgr4 Portion of the council report is unavoidably held over. Mr J. Bennett, M.P., has receiv ed the following communication from the Deputy Postmaster-Gen eral :—" With reference to the mail service between Tambo Crossing and Stirling three times per week, I beg to inform you that enquires recently made in connection therewith, indicated that the revenue was not suffi- j cient to warrant the continuance ! of the service, and tenders were Accordingly invited for a service once, twice or three times per week. Only one tender, how ever, was received, and that was for a service twice a week. Ap ' proval has accordingly been giv en for the present service to be reduced frorri three times to twice per week from the first July next, the matter to be reviewed at the expiration of one year. In structions are being issued in the matter." Mr G. H. Wise, who is a can didate in the forthcoming Fed eral elections for the .Gippsland seat, will speak at the Bruthen Mec...

—_ That Is the song- of the New VEGA Separator The musical hum of beautiful ly balanced mechanism— Growing more and more intense while the cream flows thicker and thicker— * And your bank balance gets bigger and bigger and bigger And you chuckle quietly to your self when you think how little you paid for the Vega, and how many times over you have got your money back. Prices of New Model 1 Vega Separators. 10 Gal—£3/16/; 85 GaL—>£l»/lfl 2t Gal—£7; 80 GaL—£15/15 Full Particular Dept/c.i'. Buckeye Harvester Co., 4U-60 FBANCIB ST, MKEB. Eaacedo Agents VfM. A GOOD BUSINESS SUIT AT A REASONABLE PRICE MADE TO YOUR MEASURE. FOR 35/ Try one of these Suits and you will be agreeably surprised at their marvellous value —you have the pick of the largest variety in Australia of Suitings in the latest shades and designs to choose from. ALL ONE PRICE. Ordering elsewhere is sheer waste of money, as the Suit I make for 35/- is equal to anything else at 70/-. Patterns, S.M. form and tape sent to an...

HINTS FOR WASH DAY. Try washing red table linen in water in which a little borax has bee.u dissolved. Add a few drops of ammonia to the blue water to whiten the clothes. Clothes turned right side out, care fully folded and sprinkled, are lia'.f ironed. Sprinkle salt on a wine stain and pour hot water through it until it is gone. Wet fruit stains with alcohol or pour boiling water through them. Kerosene in the boiling water whitens clothes safely, especially such as are yellow from lying. Put in a tablespoonful to each gallon of suds. For very yellow or grimy things, make an emulsion of kerosene, clear lime water and turpentine ill equal parts. Shake them together until jreamy, then add a cupful to a boiler ful of clothes and boil for half an huor. The same emulsion is good for very dirty things, such as jumpers, over alls, working shirts, children's trous ers. Use it in conjunction with stroll? suds, as hot as the hand can bear, and rub a little directly upon dirty grease spots. Let...

MONDAY, 8.30 A.M. Some Reflections on a Boiling Copper. "The copper's boiling"—this is the com mon phrase of early Monday, the housewife's call to the weekly task. Let us follow it with a question that is not so simple as it sounds : uWhat is it boiling for?" Most people would answer, "Why, to boil the dirt out of the clothes, of course;" Quite so, but for health's sake something more than dirt has to be done away with in the household washing, namely, the seeds of infectious disease. Infection may be communicated to a whole city (and beyond it) from one single patient, of which the smallpox epidemic is a case in point. It is due to tiny organisms, hardly visible through a microscope but intensely alive, thrown off in the course of the disease. These fluat in the air or dust and drift to clothes and house linen as naturally as steel draws to aniagnct; we call them " Germs," or seeds of disease, because just as an ordinary seed grows to a plant, so a disease germ on a human body bree...

FUNNY SCENE ON AN OMNIBUS. Rather a risky substitute for a bat tlefield is the top of an omnibus, but there have been not a few Homeric struggles on "imperiales," as they are termed in Paris. The latest adventure, says the Paris Ct rrespondent of the "Daily Tele graph," of the sort owed its origin to a very comical mistake. At a parti cular Parisian office there ascended to the iSummit of one of these vehicles an individual of very comfortable di mensions, who was speedily immersed in the study of his newspaper, a pretty and well-dressed woman, many years his junior, and an elderly man, who looked like a retired officer. The omni'bus had hardly started when the old beau began to cast glances ex pressive of intense admiration at his fair neighbor, and although he re ceived no encouragement he contin ued his attempt to get up a flirtation With her quite unabashed. Suddenly the lady rose to her feet, at the im minent risk of toppling over, and screamed out, "You ruffian! Not con tent w...

TO A BIRD. (Lines suggested by seeing one ori a lady's hat in churcli.) Cruel the art, Poor bird, that killed and placed you there, To form a part Of yonder lady's plumage rare! Who will consent That slie, who hither came to pray, Has a heart as innocent As yours was in its gladsome day? And who can tell If the praise she offers in this throng Is as acceptable" As once ascended with your song? Whatever land Claimed your nativity, there The same kind riand Created you, that did this lady fair. Throughout your days Your little throat was made and meant To sing God's praise, Unharmed, a harmless instrument. And the religion that Would take your pretty form and pin It to a lady's hat May point to Heaven—but ne'er enter in.

NO MERIT IN HAVING A HARD TIME. There is no merit in having a hard time in this life. There is no sin in merely having an easy time here. No man can confidently expect to be -a gainer, in the next life, because he has suffered much in this life. Nor need any person lack hope for the life beyond, because he has found joy and had pleasure in the present life year by year. A life rightly spent may give joy in the present, atid may have promise of the life that is to come. If we would hope for the future, let us use well the present.

PATTERN FOR HANDSOME EVENING GOWN. No later evening gown could be se cured than this. It may be made up in any rich material according to the taste of the wearer. It represents "Everylady's Journal" pattern No. 177 —cut in small, medium and large sizes. This pattern may be bought for ninepence from local pattern agents, or will be sent post free to any address if ninepence in stamps is sent to Dept. A, "Everylady's Jour nal," 376 Swanston-street, Melbourne. State number of pattern and size re quired. If a penny stamp is sent to above address, a 48-page catalogue will be sent to any reader who writes "send free catalogue." The body is tuned by proper exer cise, and the mind by mirth. Buy what thou hast no need of, and 'before long thou shalt sell thy neces saries. — Nothing refines like affection. Fam ily jarring vulgarises family unison elevates.

colonial mutual life. Sound Position. ■ Chairman' Gives Figures. Profits Described. Proceedings at the annual meeting of the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance So ciety Limited, held on May 27, in the onl ces of the company, 419 Collins-street, were marked by unanimity, ap&amp;rt X1"01? the objections of two policy-holders, Messrs. C. A. Archer and D. J. D Arcy, who were also two of the Ave signator ies to the petition presented to Parlia ment last year, Mr. G. T. Baker, chairman of direc tors, in his opening remarks, alluded to the improved position of the society since the issue of the previous report, also to the report of the inspectors, Messrs. Laughton and Brennan, the gen tlemen appointed by the Government to make an inspection of the society's busi ness, which, it would be remembered, the directors applied for when their Bill was before Parliament, and when cer tain unsupported statements about the position of the society were current. The chairman continued: "The sum and su...

WELSBACH THE WORLD'S BE8T FOR COUNTRY LIGHTING. Air Gas Machines. The Welsbacfc Air Gas" Ma chine is so elm pie that a child can work it with impunity, Suitable for Lighting, Heat ing and Cook ing. We guar antee satisfac tion with all our Machines, and to prove this we will put a machine in for one month free of charge; and if not suit able, will remove same free of all dost to you. Write for Catalogue. WELSBACH LIGHT COMPANY OF AUSTRALASIA LIMITED, iSO r,ONSTUT,B RT.V UET,BCrPRNE

A MIDSHIPMAN'S ADVENTURE IN JAPAN. A correspondent of "To-Day" tells the following amusing story of a Brit ish midshipman's adventure in Japan: Last New Year's Day a midshipman from one of the big cruisers was "taking in" the city of Tokio in a rickshaw. There was a keen 'breeze blowing, but it was prevented from howling merrily through the middy's whiskers by reason of the fact that he hadn't any. But if his face were de void of hirsute adornment, he, by way of compensation, held between his lips a number one Manila cheroot of imposing proportions, which he puff ed with ostentatious vigor. Now, these simple facts were noted by an equally simple but sternly conscientious Jap anese policeman, who prided himself upon his entire and precise know ledge of the laws of the land of the "rising sun," When the Oriental bobby saw that juvenile naval offi cer's glowing but beardless counten ance from afar he thought of the Jap anese equivalent for the British "Ha! ha!" and ordered the coolie t...

CHAPTER XVI. It was on the afternoon of the day that Shamus O'Doyle started for Ire land and Karl Kruger took boat from Southampton to his native land, also that Peter Bellairs came home rather later than usual and requested his wife to send Sheila with a message to the Duchess,, saying that Tie par ticularly wished to speak to her alone. For Bellairs had made up his mind, and that mind, once made up, was not likely to he disturbed again. The time had passed when he could scold Margaret for what she had done, and the unhappy man was de termined to get rid of her. He en tered her boudoir, sat down and^said abruptly: "I have a few things to say to you, Margaret." "Yes, Peter," she rep'ied, looking at him with frightened blue eyes. "Have you heard from your son lately?" "Yes, I had a letter, but you said I wasn't to mention his name to you, so I did not tell you anything about if He seems to be getting on well in his new employment, although the poor 'boy does not care for office life....

GREATER THAN GOLD By L.'t. MEADE, Author of "The Soul of Margaret Rand," etc. Published by arrangement with Ward, Lock and Co., London &amp; Melbourne. All Rights Reserved. CHAPTER X V.—Continued. The brother and sister went into the house, where the amazed and de lighted squire and his wife gave their son a most hearty welcome. Indeed, Mrs. O'Doyle shed tears as she kiss ed her "beautiful boy," as she called him. Shamus knew exactly how to act in the home of his ancestors. He gave his mother graphic accounts of his life in London, which charmed and delighted the sedate old lady, and after lunch he went around with his father to see the stables and examine the hunters. "I am forced to return to London to-morrow morning, sir, but when I do come back I will 'bring a couple of fresh horses with me." "Ye can't do better than buy them here, Sliamus. 'There aren't any horses in the world like those we rear, are there, Mick?" Mick, one of the head grooms, en dorsed his master's opinion...